Vendetta
by Dare
Summary: There is a fine line between a passion for justice and obsession. Can Chun Li decide where her heart lies in her quest to avenger her father? One of my earlier fics. A tad dated, but still has some merit, IMHO.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
Prologue   
Somewhere in Brazil.   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
  
The storm was coming.   
The Brazilian rain forest was lush and green, an unusual location for   
the scene playing out. Thunder cracked somewhere far away, the sign of an   
approaching tempest. You could barely hear the rushing wind over the turbines   
of the giant jet, and the air was thick with the stench of exhaust mixed with the   
fragrance of the surrounding foliage.   
For two individuals, all outside factors had ceased to exist, for their   
battle had yet to begin.   
The first, a slight but muscular Chinese girl clad in a blue leotard, stood   
in a ready _wu shu_ stance. Her fair-colored face was decorated with deep black   
eyes afire with fury, a mouth set in a tight, angry line. She glared with   
undisguised revulsion at her opponent.   
The opponent in question was a stocky hulk of a man, clothed in a red   
military uniform of some type, and covered with a black cloak. The expression   
chiseled into his rock-hard face was one of condescension and amusement.   
She spoke, contempt dripping from her lips along with her words. "Evil   
in the flesh; Lord Bison."   
The man known as Bison simply sneered at the mention of his name.   
"Chun Li, I presume." he responded. "I have been waiting for you."   
If that sentence threw Chun Li from her stride, she didn't let it show.   
Ignoring him, she continued, and asked the one question that had led her here,   
after months of searching and disappointment. "What happened to my   
father?"   
Bison's face did not change. "Do you really want to know?"   
Pure rage erupted into Chun Li's normally placid disposition. "What   
have you done with him? _You know something!!!_"   
Bison's eyes came alive with bluish-white light, and his fists did the   
same. His cloak was whipped up; not by the winds of the coming storm, but   
from the dark force of his terrible power.   
"Don't ask questions if you aren't prepared for the answers." was all he   
said.   
The time for words was over.   
With a cry, Chun Li rushed the evil man, rage fueling her every   
motion. Bison just stood where he was, not even flinching.   
"_Sen'en Shuu!_" she screamed as she leapt into her Revolving Circle   
Kick. Flipping forward onto her hands, she then brought her left heel down in a   
devastating arc that would have surely shattered the bones of anyone it   
connected with.   
That is, _if_ it connected.   
Chun Li's foot cut harmlessly through empty air, and she landed   
abruptly. Bison was gone.   
_Where did he-_ Her through was cut off when she backflipped out of   
the way of an blast of white energy.   
Whirling, she saw that Bison had somehow gotten behind her.   
_Impossible!_ her mind screamed. __No_ one can move that fast!!_   
Again, she had to shove that little observation to the back of her mind,   
because Bison then came hurtling towards her, enveloped in that same terrible   
light. It was all she could do to duck under the blazing flash.   
Rolling back to her feet, Chun Li blazed forward for another strike, a   
more powerful one was needed.   
"_Hyakeretsu Kyaku!_" Her foot thrust forward at a blindingly fast   
speed, striking thousands upon thousands of times.   
She felt herself hit the mark several times, but she couldn't tell if she   
was having any effect.   
The fact that Bison began to laugh was of course, a definite and   
unwelcome answer to that question. Before she could make another move, she   
felt his fingers close around her throat, and lift her up into the air.   
She grabbed his arm, slammed a foot into his chest again and again,   
trying to make him let go, but to no avail. His hand was glowing a blue-white,   
and her neck began to tingle and burn as she felt her strength begin to slip away.   
"You are skilled, little girl, but I grow bored." Bison growled. "I can   
see that letting this little soiree continue is a waste of time for me, and a waste of   
breath for you. So let me solve both our problems."   
His hand began to grip her throat tighter and tighter. Chun Li's world   
began to go white........   
........until suddenly, she thrust her hands forward and screamed   
"_Kikosho!!!!_"   
A ball of light purer and brighter than her enemy's burst forth from her   
hands. Both her and Bison let out an exclamation of pain and surprise.   
There was a blinding explosion, and Chun Li felt herself being thrown   
up, back, and away. The impact of her body onto the grassy ground knocked her   
senseless, and she blacked out.   
A few moments later, she came to, and immediately sprang to her feet,   
wary that Bison had the jump on her. But, the evil dictator and his aircraft were   
nowhere to be seen.   
Then, she heard his laugh. She hated that laugh, full of condescension   
and derision, and she would for many years to come. Right now, she looked up,   
to where the source of that laughter was oddly floating upwards to meet his now   
airborne vessel.   
Bison had his arms crossed over his chest as he continued to laugh, to   
mock her helplessness.   
"Chun Li!" he taunted as he took off the nearly destroyed cap on his   
head. "You surprised me. Perhaps next time, I'll use both hands. Unfortunately,   
I have no more time for these petty games."   
Chun Li's face twisted into a visage of intense rage and disgust.   
"Where do you think you're going, you monster?! This isn't over!"   
Bison chuckled malevolently. "Don't worry child, we will meet again.   
I hope you'll amuse me then, as well."   
Then, an evil gleam that she hated and feared at the same time came to   
his eye.   
"At least, more than your father did."   
Horror joined the many other emotions on Chun Li's face.   
"_It was you!_" she cried. "_You killed my father!_"   
Bison said nothing, just kept floating upwards to his waiting craft.   
Chun Li, overcome by wrath, ran forward and leapt up towards where Bison   
was rising into the air.   
"_Tensho Kyaku!_" she shouted, and rose spinning into the air. But   
even at full strength, which she wasn't, Chun Li's Rising Heaven Kick still   
wouldn't have had enough reach to strike Bison. In her enraged and   
weakened state, she didn't really care. She missed by five feet.   
By the time she landed, Bison was aboard his craft, and the vehicle   
was beginning to move away. Chun Li began to run after it, at the rain began to   
pour.   
"_Bison!!!_" she screamed, raindrops splashing onto her face, mixing   
with her hot, angry tears of rage. Her hair came loose from the twin ornaments   
she had fastened atop her head, and her long brown tresses trailed behind her as   
she ran even faster, his mocking laughter still ringing in her ears.   
Soon, she fell to her knees, the jet craft holding her adversary gaining   
speed, flying away out of her reach, and then out of her sight.   
Chun Li just sat there, weeping into her hands out of impotent fury and   
shame.   
*I've failed, father.* she cursed herself, bitterly. *I've failed myself   
and you. But I swear-*   
She glared up into the empty gray sky, the tears still streaming from   
eyes ablaze with grim determination.   
*I swear that I will not rest until I find him. And when I do, I'll make   
him pay. For both our sakes.*   
Thunder crashed. The storm had begun.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
  
Studio Fan   
  
Presents   
  
VENDETTA   
  
A Chun Li Story   
  
By Dare   
  
DISCLAIMER: Street Fighter and all of its concepts are trademark and   
copyright Capcom Ent. All other concepts and characters featured in this fan   
fiction are copyright of the author.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
Chapter One- The Snare   
Beijing, China   
Four years later   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
  
"Get outta the freakin' way!"   
The small-time crook called Donny Yinyang was not having a good   
day. Being not much more than a fence and courier, he knew he would get into   
trouble regularly, but not to such an extent.   
It had all started with the job he was hired for today. The phone had   
rung in his little run-down flat, and he'd very grudgingly picked up. The person   
on the other end of the line refused to give their name, and the voice was   
somewhat scrambled, so he initially refused to take the job. That is, until they   
offered him ten thousand in American dollars.   
As it turned out, the item was already in his mailbox, a brown   
envelope. The instructions were to take it to some fellow named Vega who   
would be waiting at a Buddhist temple.   
It sounded simple enough, which made Donny very suspicious. When   
he asked for more details, all he was told is that the money would be waiting for   
him when he got there, and then the line went dead.   
To be honest, Donny didn't like the situation. But for that much   
money, a little discomfort wasn't exactly the worst of his problems.   
No, the worst of his problems happened when he neared the temple   
later that morning. In Beijing, people in black suits tend to stand out, and when   
he noticed a number of like-dressed people waiting for him, he decided to do the   
most logical thing and ran.   
The "men in black" gave chase, and it was due only to his extreme   
familiarity of the Beijing streets that he was able to have eluded them this far.   
Even so, he was now running frantically through the crowded marketplace,   
tipping over carts, and racing through vendors shops, trying to outrun the last of   
his pursuers. He had to admit, she was pretty good.   
He ignored the angry shouts of the fruitseller whose watermelons he   
had just trampled, and headed left for an alley that was so narrow, you had to be   
right in front of it to see it.   
At the end of the alley was a ladder which led to the top of the   
building. He wasted no time jumping onto it and climbing as fast as he could.   
once he go to the top, he resumed his mad dash. Luckily he was in a part of   
Beijing where a lot of the buildings were within jumping distance of each other,   
or at least their roofs were.   
Taking the quickest of quick glances behind him, he saw that his   
pursuer was nowhere to be seen He had either lost her or she had given up.   
Since those two choices were both pretty unlikely, he kept running.   
About ten minutes later, Donny was out of breath and finally began to   
slow down. Even if she had somehow followed him, he was only a few meters   
away from his hideout, and virtually no one knew where that was.   
His hideout was a ramshackle old abandoned clock face above the   
Sunghwa financial affairs building. It had broken down years ago, and no one   
had bothered to fix it since, much less actually go up there. So, it was the perfect   
place for a small-time crook to lay low. Granted, the place was cramped, dirty,   
and stunk, but he usually didn't have to stay there for very long. He hoped that   
this little incident wouldn't be the first exception.   
One second before he opened the door to his little hideaway, it flew   
open and slammed into his face. The impact wasn't enough to break his nose,   
but it did send him back. He skid to a halt by landing on his duff and lay there   
for a little while, the wind knocked out of him.   
When he looked up, he saw his last pursuer was standing over him,   
hands on hips. Unlike her suit-wearing cohorts, she was clad in a black bodysuit   
with those oddly studded bracelets. Her dark brown hair was tied neatly back   
into a braid save for a few locks hanging over her forehead. Her deep, dark eyes   
were studying him with an air of bemusement and contempt.   
Donny wiped the blood from where he had bitten his lip, and tried to   
smile in his most charming manner. He smoothed his short black hair back as   
best he could while struggling to a sitting position.   
"Long time, no see, Inspector." he grinned.   
"Not long enough, Donny." bristled Inspector Chun Li of Interpol.   
Somehow, she had found out how to intercept him. "You're starting to get   
predictable."   
He smoothed his hair back. "A few weeks past thirty, and I'm already   
getting senile. I guess I haven't lost my boyish charm, though." He flashed that   
impossibly white smile. "I've still got young attractive women chasing me all   
over town."   
Chun Li wasn't amused. Donny noticed more of her black-suited   
compatriots approaching from their hiding places.   
"I don't suppose," he said, getting to his feet and then standing, "that   
we could do this without a fight?"   
The barest trace of a smile crossed Chun Li's face. "That's up to you."   
"Fair enough." Donny conceded, as he dusted off his trousers, doffed   
his cap, and then threw a kick at her.   
It was nearly impossible to live among China's shady underworld for   
most of your life and not learn something about fighting. Such was the case with   
Donny Yinyang. Though he usually found running a more appealing course of   
action to getting the tar beaten out of him, there were a few times in his life that   
it was either impossible to run or more profitable to hold his ground. While most   
of his fighting "style" was simple street rumbling and barroom brawling, he'd   
picked up some traditional _kung fu_ in his youth, and found that what he   
remembered of it came in very handy at times.   
Chun Li dodged the kick by dropping to one knee and whirling a leg in   
a wide arc to sweep Donny off his supporting leg. He let out a grunt as his   
tailbone impacted with the ground again, but quickly rolled to his feet.   
One of the men in black began to rush forward to take him down, but   
Chun Li gestured for him to stay back. She wanted to handle this one   
personally.   
Donny threw a punch, which she intercepted, and then grabbed his   
wrist, twisted his arm behind his back, and then slammed a foot into the back of   
his knee. The leg buckled, sending him back to the ground. He got up again and   
came back for more.   
While obviously lacking the rough savvy of the two-bit thief, Chun   
Li's training in both classical _wu shu_ and military hand-to-hand combat more   
than made up for it. She most likely had enough skill to knock Donny out, or   
perhaps even cripple him, but neither of those alternatives were desirable to her   
at the time. Instead, she was utilizing the "soft vs. hard" philosophy of _tai chi   
chuan_, by simply responding to Donny's attacks with evasion or retaliation. But   
soon she decided that she was wasting too much time.   
As he charged her again, Chun Li simply stepped out of his path and   
as he passed her, spun and slammed her heel into the back of his head. Donny   
hit the ground again and stayed there.   
She ran back over to where he was groaning, and turned him over on   
his back. After a second his eyes focused, and he brought his hands up as he   
grinned that same grin again.   
"All right, all right." he said, with a little less chuckle to his voice. "I   
give. You win."   
"The jig's up, Donny." Chun Li said. "We know why you were going   
to the temple. We want the item, and we want to know who sent you."   
"Easy, Inspector, easy." Donny entreated. "You'll get no more fight   
out of me."   
"Then start talking."   
"Okay, okay. They aren't paying me enough to mess with you lot,   
anyway." Then, he dropped his voice. "But, what do I get out of it?"   
Chun Li looked at him incredulously, astounded at his gall. "What do   
you mean?"   
"I mean compensation for my services, beautiful. If this little piece of   
paper," he pulled the envelope out of his pocket, "is important enough for   
Interpol to chase down harmless little old me, then it's gotta be worth   
something."   
Chun Li grabbed him by his ratty shirt collar and yanked him close.   
"How about, we get the envelope, you get to keep your teeth?" she growled in   
her most threatening tone.   
Donny just chuckled. "You know, you really shouldn't try this sort of   
intimidation tactic on really big guys. For one thing, it doesn't work. For   
another, you look sorta cute when you're angry."   
Chun Li felt her cheeks grow red from embarrassment and indignance   
as she heard Donny's remark invoke snickering from the men behind her. She   
was getting mad enough to follow through on her hollow threat until he   
unceremoniously pushed the envelope into her hands.   
"Ah, what th' heck." he grinned. "I'm just a sucker for a pretty face.   
You gonna let me up?"   
Chun Li silently let go of his shirt, and the two got up. She handed the   
envelope to a waiting suit. Donny straightened his clothing, grin intact.   
"I guess we're done here, right?" he said.   
"No so fast, Donny." Chun Li said. "We want the name of who you   
were supposed to meet."   
He sighed, and turned to the Interpol agent next to him. "Women.   
They're never happy. But what are ya gonna do, right?"   
Not so much as a chuckle this time. Donny nervously laughed and   
cleared his throat. He could see the Inspector was getting impatient.   
"Spill it. Now."   
"All right. The man I was supposed to meet was-"   
_Phht! Phht! Phht!_   
Chun Li's eyes widened in horror as suddenly, three bright red spots   
blossomed on Donny's dirty gray shirt. He looked down at the blood, then at   
her. His mouth moved as if to say something, but nothing came out as he sank   
to the ground.   
Chun Li instantly scanned the horizon, looking for the sniper among   
the roof tops.   
_There!_ "_Fire!_" she screamed, pointing at a building about a   
hundred yards distant. Even now, she could make out a red and black suited   
form beginning to run. The Interpol operatives pulled out their high-powered   
handguns and began to shoot.   
Meanwhile, Chun Li ran to where Donny had fallen. He was still alive,   
but his breath came in shallow gasps and his face had taken on a ghastly pallor.   
A worm of blood trickled from his mouth and nose.   
"Donny!" she cried. "Donny!"   
No response. She began to shake him.   
"Don't you die on me, curse you!" she yelled. "Don't you die!"   
He struggled to open his eyes, and when he did, he smiled. Even in his   
death throes, Donny managed to grin that same grin she hated.   
"Why, Inspector," he croaked, "I didn't know you cared."   
"Of course." Chun Li managed a sort of cocky, sad smile, while   
holding in her tears of desperation and helplessness. "You're my favorite   
hobby. What else am I going to do every month except chase you down?"   
Donny seemed to actually think this over. Then he smiled gravely and   
said, "Maybe you should try the opera?"   
And then he breathed his last. He died.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
Chapter Two- Consequences   
Interpol HQ   
The next day.   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
  
Clothed in her dress uniform, Chun Li sat rigidly in the office of   
Commander Zheng Zhu Dao, the head of Interpol's China branch. She only   
partly listened to her commanding officer's oration, her placid expression   
masking her roiling inner storm of emotions. Anger, directed at herself   
for having been duped so easily the preceding day. Frustration, that Shadowlaw   
had found some way to come out on top. And finally grief, over the death of   
Donny Yinyang.   
It was true that he had been a scoundrel, a thief, and a liar, but in the   
end, Donny hadn't been out to hurt anybody. From what she had read of his   
dossier on his colorful existence in China, he had lost his family when he was   
twelve and had taken to the streets ever since. He'd been nothing but small time,   
never getting mixed up with the Triads or anything really nasty. In fact, he'd   
been a snitch for the Hong Kong PD for awhile, at a price. In a nutshell, Donny   
was a decent man who'd simply had to survive. And he'd succeeded.   
That is, until yesterday.   
Yesterday, Donny's brief, but somewhat worthwhile life had come to a   
violent end. And for what?   
Nothing.   
Less than nothing.   
The envelope he had ultimately risked his life for had been empty.   
There were no papers, documents, blueprints, or microfilm inside it. No   
coded tapes or computer discs. Not even a single blessed scrap of paper. The   
military tacticians and criminal psychologists working with this Interpol   
operation could come up with only one possible stratagem that could have   
motivated such a fruitless effort: Donny had been used.   
Distraction, diversion, bait.....he had served as the pawn for the   
unfathomable machinations of a dark force. A dark force that had also played   
her and Interpol for fools, no doubt strategically leaking the information that   
had led them and Donny out into the open that day. A dark force that she saw as   
the bane of her existence. A dark force that had a name: Shadowlaw.   
Chun Li heard a _crack_.   
The commander stopped. Both he and Chun Li looked down to see that   
she'd snapped her pencil in two.   
"Is everything quite all right, Inspector?" Zheng said, his weathered,   
thin face crinkled in inquiry. Chun Li blushed ever so slightly, even though she   
was the only one in his office.   
"Yes, sir. I'm fine." she ahemed. "Please, go on."   
"Very well." Commander Zheng continued. "As I was saying, recent   
events have led Central Command to believe that Shadowlaw is maneuvering in   
some sort of scheme. A month ago, we intercepted a shipment of munitions to   
Barcelona, Spain. Two weeks ago, a death threat was made to Albert Sellers,   
America's chief minister of foreign affairs. Four days ago, we received word of   
Shadowlaw's militia moving in towards the Thailand border. The time proximity   
of these events are causing reasonable suspicion that they are up to something.   
Not to mention-"   
Chun Li tensed. She knew what the commander would say next.   
"Yesterday's occurrence is also proof of their advancement. The 'item'   
their courier was carrying was worthless in it of itself, so we can only assume   
that their plot was to draw attention."   
Then, Zheng fixed his eyes on her.   
"Or, more specifically, _your_ attention."   
Chun Li said nothing. It was well known to all Interpol agents who   
were working on the Shadowlaw operation knew of her personal enmity towards   
Shadowlaw. Ever since that fateful day in Brazil four years ago, she carried the   
deepest and darkest animosity against Bison and his terrorist organization.   
"It's no secret, the almost extreme efforts you have made during the   
past few years. The research, the poking, the prodding, the absolute   
relentlessness you pursue Shadowlaw with has not gone unnoticed by your   
peers. Unfortunately, neither has it gone unnoticed by Shadowlaw, as well."   
Still, she said nothing.   
"We have reason to believe that the entire purpose of yesterday's   
incident was to draw you out into the open. The information was leaked in such   
a way that you would have gotten wind of it and handled the operation yourself.   
Once you showed up, the courier was expendable and was terminated before he   
could give you any information."   
Chun Li gritted her teeth at the cold, impersonal words with which he   
described Donny. But, the commander's logic made sense. The sniper had to   
have been there for her entire exchange with Donny, and could have killed him   
at any time before then.   
A small ball of something cold and heavy formed in her stomach, as it   
dawned on her that Donny may have died for her sake. Had died because of her.   
_She_ had been the target, not him.   
But then, why hadn't the gunman tried to shoot her?   
Commander Zheng went on. "I suppose it's fortunate that the probable   
assassination attempt made on you was unsuccessful. But be assured, this means   
most likely that Shadowlaw is making efforts to eliminate those who they feel   
are a threat to them. Such dire measures indicate that they want no liabilities in   
existence when they make their move."   
"Sir," Chun Li said at last, momentarily forgetting her protocol and   
rising up out of her chair to put her hands on the desk, "you're not suggesting   
that I resign from the investigation?!"   
She had requested assignment to the investigation concerning   
Shadowlaw since day one, and her zeal for her work had slowly gone from   
green enthusiasm to cold obsession. Her commanding officers, such as Zheng,   
had seen this type of determination as useful, until they began to worry about   
her personal agenda getting in the way of the mission.   
Their reluctance was reinforced by yesterday's other "incident".   
  
After laying Donny back on the ground, Chun Li noticed that the   
shooting had stopped.   
"Did you get him?" she yelled at the nearest agent.   
He lowered his smoking gun, and sheepishly said, "No, ma'am, he got   
away."   
Chun Li's eyes narrowed, and the hint of a tear of fury appeared. "Not   
in my town. Not today."   
"Inspector?" said the young agent. Too late, she was gone.   
Running to the edge of the building, she scanned for the quickest way   
to get down. The gunman was mostly like escaping on foot, figuring that the   
Interpol agents would not have nearly enough time to follow him. And he'd be   
right, if it was any other Interpol agent rather than Chun Li.   
The building he had shot from was too far away for her to leap to, but   
not the building next to it. About twenty yards down at a slant, she saw a fire   
escape. Backing up, she then threw herself into a run.   
When she reached the edge, she leapt with all her strength, flying   
through the air over the eleven story chasm between the structures. She heard   
her fellow agents cry out, and for a split second, she thought she wasn't going to   
make it.......   
.........until her feet impacted solidly with the fire escape. The landing   
jarred her, but only for a second, and she most likely didn't notice, anyway.   
She'd have to thank Jackie for teaching her this trick if he ever decided to get   
out of the movie business.   
Entering through a window, she saw that it was a condemned   
apartment building. As she ran down the stairs , she saw through another   
window that there was a wrecking ball about another two stories down. The plan   
she hatched was insane, but would work.   
Reaching the window two stories down, she braced herself and then   
leapt to the top of the crane and grabbed the cable connected to the wrecking   
ball.   
Careful to control her descent, she slid the rest of the way down, landing on the   
wrecking ball just in time to see the assassin exit across the street.   
With a enraged cry, she launched herself off the iron sphere, and   
tackled the retreating killer.   
The two collided with the wall. Before he could retaliate, Chun Li   
grabbed the killer's black jacket and spun him and planted a fist squarely across   
his jaw and slammed him back up against the wall. Looking at the uniform he   
wore, a red and black bodysuit, she noticed the Skull and chevron icon on his   
left breast pocket. the symbol of Shadowlaw.   
"_WHO SENT YOU_?" she demanded, tired of games. The assassin,   
apparently of Japanese descent, laughed and swore at her in his tongue.   
Unfortunately for him, Chun Li understood Japanese perfectly.   
She jumped into the air and whirled her foot around to strike him   
upside the head. He crumpled, and then started to surrender.   
Then the oddest thing happened.   
The assassin's face seemed to change. It got broader, bigger. The skin   
tone changed from tan to gray. The slack mouth curled into a sneer. The eyes   
went white, losing their pupils. The face that resulted was one she knew all too   
well. Her heart began to pound rapidly, and it seemed that its rhythm was   
matched by a terrible laughter that sounded like it came from miles away.   
BISON.   
She rammed her forehead into the bridge of his nose, breaking it. Then   
she slammed her knee into his gut twice and then thrust her elbow into his face.   
As the killer clutched at his face in agony, she then stomped down on his knee,   
forcing him to he ground, where she began to thrash him mercilessly.   
Even through his cries of submission, all Chun Li saw was that same   
face and heard that mocking laughter from all those years ago. Beyond all   
reason, she continued to pummel him.   
"Oh, man!" someone cried. "Someone get her off him!"   
Suddenly, she felt someone's arms seize her, and she tried to make   
whoever it was let go until she looked up and saw it was one of her fellow   
agents. He was looking at her with a mix of shock and astonishment.   
She was about to ask him what his problem was until she noticed her   
hands were wet. Looking at them, she saw they were stained with blood.   
Someone let out a whistle, and she saw that she had reduced the   
assassin's face to a broken mass of bloody meat. He was still alive, but beaten   
within an inch of his life.   
  
It was the first time in a long while that she had lost control and   
behaved so irrationally, in fact years. But it was the first time that it had had   
such destructive results. It had earned her a reprimand, and the eligibility for   
court martial, but the reason that Zheng had gotten her into his office this   
morning in first place was by telling her they had suspended the charges.   
But now, the possibility of being taken off the case she had worked so   
hard on was more terrifying and devastating than martial litigation. Right now,   
as her commanding officer, Zheng held her future in his hands. If he so desired,   
the Shadowlaw case would soon be no more of a concern for her.   
"At first, that was an option." he said. "But on the contrary, facts are   
facts, Inspector. And the facts are that Shadowlaw is up to something big, and   
that you are simply the only Interpol agent alive best suited to lead the next step   
of the operation. It's all entirely up to you, of course."   
That was a surprise. She hadn't been expecting that. She sat back down.   
"However-"   
She tensed again. She hated Zheng's "however"s.   
"if you do decide to take this assignment, you won't be doing this   
alone. We have made arrangements for a joint effort with the US military.   
Here."   
He tossed a manila folder on the desk in front of her. Chun Li opened it   
to find another dossier with a picture. It was that of a Caucasian man, built like a   
brick wall, with hard eyes and a brush cut that looked almost silly, considering   
that altogether the image redefined "tough".   
"That man is Major William Guile of the US Air Force. He's your new   
partner."   
"Sir?!" Chun Li looked at her commanding officer in hopes of finding   
a trace of jest in his features. There was none. "Sir, you can't be serious!"   
"I am. If Shadowlaw is preparing for some kind of strike, we are going   
to need more firepower and support. And right now, the USA is the only venue   
left to us with the necessary resources. The only way we were able to enlist aid   
from them is if we allowed one of their officers to participate in the operation.   
They requested that this Major Guile be taken on. From his service record, I   
believe you will find him most reliable."   
"But, sir-!" Chun Li protested.   
Zheng ignored her. "It won't be that bad, Inspector. All things   
considered, you and him have a lot in common. If you read that file, you will   
note that Major Guile's wingman, a Sergeant Charles Nash was killed by Bison   
four years ago, around the same time as your first encounter with him."   
Chun Li nodded. She'd met another American soldier during her travel   
through the South Peninsula at the time. She didn't remember much about him,   
other than an interesting hairstyle and a deep booming voice.   
Zheng got up out of his seat and began to the door. "Take the night to   
decide. I will expect either your confirmation or declination tomorrow   
morning."   
Halfway out the door, he stopped. "In the meantime-."   
Chun Li turned to face her commander. His expression was severe and   
his tone terse.   
"-do consider this: Guile and Nash were apparently very close,   
Inspector. From what I hear, they were as brothers. If there is anyone else on   
Earth who understands this _vendetta_ of yours, it will be him."   
With that, Zheng shut the door to his office, leaving Chun Li alone   
with her thoughts, with only herself to seek answers from.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
Chapter Three- Reflections in a Dark Mirror   
Pai Lung Kwoon (White Dragon Training Hall)   
Later that night.   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
  
_Whack_   
_Wham_   
_Whmmph_   
In the main hall of the _kwoon_, Chun Li rhythmically slammed foot,   
fist, and limb into a 100-pound heavy bag. The training hall's classes were over   
for the day, and that was why she was here. She needed a quiet place to think, to   
reflect, to ponder the turn of events in her life and she could think of no better   
place.......   
The White Dragon Kwoon was perhaps the biggest Chinese martial arts   
training school in all of Beijing, built like an ancient temple, but with a few   
modern amenities. There were several rooms and mats for classes and sparring,   
training equipment both contemporary and traditional, as well as weapons lining   
the walls. During the day, the place was alive with students and teachers.   
But now, the sun was just setting , and the place was silent and still,   
almost deathly so, and she wondered if coming here was such a good idea after   
all. There were so many painful memories.   
Her father was one of the men who'd taught at this place when it first   
opened twenty five years ago, along with a select few. She'd watched him teach   
classes, even after a hard day's work of being a police officer. He had taught his   
students with the same attitude he had regarded her, with understanding and   
firm discipline.   
Chun Li's mother had died at an early point in her life, when she was   
perhaps two. Her father raised her as best he could, relying only occasionally on   
the rest of her extended family. Between being a policeman and a _kung fu_   
teacher, he'd been a good father. Supportive, nurturing in his own way, and   
strong.   
Then one day, her father didn't come home.   
Tears suddenly stung her eyes, but she kept hitting the bag.   
The Chief of Police came to the house later to say that her father had   
disappeared, while working undercover on a sting operation involving a small-   
time terrorist group called Shadowlaw. She was only fourteen at the time.   
For awhile, she didn't know what to do. No one knew what had   
happened to her father, and no one could assume he was dead. She stayed with   
her father's teacher, a man she came to regard as a second father, Master Gen,   
for the next year until she was old enough to enroll in a _wu shu_ academy in   
Hunan. During that time, she honed her skills both mentally and physically,   
choosing to major in criminology and investigation. Right away after   
graduation, she had enlisted in Interpol, for the simple fact that she would have   
the resources necessary to search for her father.   
Although she was a trainee, her enthusiasm and passion were enough to   
convince the higher ups to allow her to follow their research on Shadowlaw,   
which had grown steadily in power under the hand of Bison, who she knew had   
had something to do with her father's disappearance.   
She eventually tracked him down across the hemisphere to Brazil.   
Along the way, she'd encountered many other individuals who were also on his   
tail. Among them the soldier, Nash, and a mysterious woman named Rose.   
Soon, Chun Li had found Bison, and confronted him. The results were   
not as she had hoped, as he revealed the truth about her father's fate. That   
moment had been a catalyst, a point of no return for her.   
_Wham_   
She hit the bag harder. Zheng had called the hatred she bore towards   
Bison a vendetta. She supposed that's what it was, really. It was as though the   
young girl known as Chun Li had died that day in Brazil, and The Inspector was   
all that was left. Single minded and as focused as a lioness stalking her prey.   
_Wham_   
And that had served her well over the past few years. She had become   
a full operative, rising in the ranks, all for the sake of tracking him down. But so   
far, no luck.   
Until now.   
_Wham_!   
But even so, the higher-ups wanted to bring in outside influences. That   
angered her.   
_"You will find him most reliable."_ Zheng had said. The thought   
made her almost laugh. "Reliable" meant "capable of handling you if you get   
out of hand."   
She had read the file on this Major Guile to find out the details of his   
friend's death were valid. So what? How dare they try to take what she had   
worked so hard for away from her? Bison was supposed to be hers, blast it all,   
_hers_. Hers to hunt down, to challenge, to destroy. To make pay for all he'd   
taken from her; her father, and her honor.   
_WHAM_!   
Four years. Four very long years of her life. That's how long she had   
spent on Bison's trail. Every arms shipment he ran, every government official   
he had assassinated, every shady dealing he had been a part of, she knew about.   
She could guess his every move, his every tactic. But who cared, now?   
_WHAM_!   
So what if she had devoted four years of her young life to tracking a   
despot? So what if her friends were getting married and starting families? So   
what if she couldn't remember the last time she had felt alive?   
_WHAM_!   
And what had it all gotten her, so far? A successful career? Hah! The   
"career" was simply a tool, to help her carry out her mission. A thing that served   
her purpose and nothing but. Like many of the people she had encountered in   
her work.   
_WHAM_!   
People like Donny. How many people were going to get hurt, killed, as   
she tried to fulfill what she believed was her destiny? Yesterday, she'd nearly   
killed a man. A man who had made the mistake of working for Bison, true, but a   
human being. She'd swore that she would never take a life unless in self -   
defense. It was one of the basic values her father had taught her growing up.   
_WHAM_!   
And now, those values she held so dear were slipping away into   
uncertainty, all from a moment of furious violence. Bison had taken away her   
father, her honor, and now, her self respect.   
_WHAM!_   
Her world was falling apart because of Bison.   
_WHAM_!   
BISON!!   
_WHAMMMM_!   
There was suddenly a loud tearing noise as her fist sunk into the bag. It   
tore open and sand spilled onto the wooden floor.   
Chun Li retracted her fist and just stood there for a while, rubbing her   
hand long after the sand had brushed off.   
"Impressive as always, young one."   
She whirled. Someone had entered the hall without her noticing, and   
she subconsciously berated herself for it. She began to fall into her ready stance,   
until she recognized the newcomer.   
It was an elderly Chinese man, average in height but with a build that   
carried the imprint of a youth of strength. He stood at the hall's entrance, hands   
clasped together and hidden in the sleeves of a gray masters' robe. His face was   
craggy and weathered, with stark white hair and a beard and bushy eyebrows to   
match. Piercing gray eyes studied her with a curious gaze.   
Chun Li relaxed. "Master Gen." She stood at attention, and placed her   
right fist into her open left palm in front of her chest, the salute of greeting in   
_kuoshu_ circles. "It is good to see you again, Honorable master."   
Master Gen simply nodded, acknowledging the salute. "As it lightens   
my heart to see you again, Little Sparrow." he stated.   
Chun Li smiled back and blushed slightly at the mention of her   
childhood nickname he had given her. "What brings you here, Master?"   
Gen replied "Other than me being the owner of this place? Not much."   
"Oh. Yes." Chun Li blushed brighter for having asked such a silly   
question.   
Gen chuckled, something that, like many other things, he had done a   
lot more of in his youth. "Actually, tonight, I am here to teach a special lesson."   
"Oh? To who?"   
"My grandsons."   
"Is that so?" Chun Li's face brightened. "Yun and Yang are here?"   
"Yes, they are outside."   
"I can't believe it, little Yun and Yang. It must be years."   
"That it has. In fact, you will see that they are not so little anymore."   
As if on cue, a shape came barreling through the door. A young man,   
perhaps fourteen and wearing a white T-shirt sped through on a skateboard, just   
barely missing both her and Master Gen. He proceeded to race into the main   
room, when a few moments later another boy, this time dressed in a red   
shirt, followed in hot pursuit on in-line skates. They seemed to be playing a   
game of tag.   
"Hah! You'll never catch me!" taunted the boy in white.   
"That remains to be seen." retorted the boy in red.   
It was all Chun Li could do to dodge the two entities of speed racing   
through the hall. She saw Master Gen sigh in exasperation and stride slowly   
forward to the center of the room.   
Suddenly, he dropped to one knee and swept his foot out in a wide arc.   
The boy on skates tripped over his outstretched leg, while the other boy   
suddenly found his skateboard to be nowhere near him, as Gen had also yanked   
it out from under him. Both youths went flying. The boy in the red shirt   
recovered from his stumble and landed on all fours in a somersault. However,   
the other boy landed heavily on his rear and proved it with a yelp of pain.   
Master Gen sighed again, and walked over to where the two young   
men had landed and grabbed them both by the ear. He hoisted them to their feet.   
"How many times have I told you boys," he scolded in a firm tone,   
"not in the house! You could have hurt someone with your foolishness."   
"Aw, Grandpa," protested the boy in white. "we were only having   
some fun."   
"Silence, Yun." said the boy in red, in a markedly more serious and   
accepting tone. "Grandfather is right, brother. We were careless. Our apologies,   
Grandfather. We didn't mean to-"   
"Oh, there you go again, Yang!" Yun snorted. "'Yes, Grandfather!' 'I'm   
sorry, Grandfather!' Sheez, Gramps, why don't ya loosen the leash, huh?"   
"At least I can admit when I've made a mistake, unlike some-"   
"Enough, both of you." said Master Gen, letting go of them. "Don't   
forget your manners. There is an elder present." he gestured to Chun Li, who   
smiled and approached. "Show the proper respect."   
Immediately, the two youths snapped to and performed the same salute   
Chun Li had graced Master Gen with. She smiled widely as she studied the two   
youths.   
They were twins, but as similar as they were, they were also different.   
They shared the same young, lean build and average height for their age, but   
their distinction was in their face. While their features were also similar, Yun   
had a look of the cocky, brash arrogance and self-assuredness that so often came   
with youth. On the other hand, Yang's countenance was one of calm and stable   
control, tinged with fragility and concession.   
Even so, she really had to fight the urge to pinch their cheeks and   
tousle their hair.   
"Yun and Yang." she grinned. "You've really grown up."   
The two young boys seemed shy and reluctant to speak or answer-   
especially Yun, who seemed particularly unused to being addressed by an   
attractive older girl-when their grandfather prompted them.   
"Boys." he said. "Surely you remember Chun Li."   
Both boys' eyes widened.   
"No way!" Yun exclaimed.   
Even in his own surprise, Yang corrected his brother. "It's not so   
impossible, Yun. It has been several years since we last saw her, it is obvious   
that we have all changed in the interim. In fact-"   
"Aw, cork it, Yang. Wow." Yun smiled goofily. "Chun Li. It's really   
cool to see ya."   
"Yes, indeed a pleasure." Yang agreed. "I trust you are well, Older   
Sister?"   
Chun Li blushed again, this time at the traditional address of an elder   
girl by a younger boy. It wasn't so far off from the truth, anyway. After she'd   
had to move in with Master Gen's family, she and the boys had spent a year   
together and had grown as close as siblings. She had missed them when she had   
left for the academy, and had found little opportunity to return for a visit.   
"I'm doing well, Yang." she smiled, slightly surprised at his serious   
tone. "You two look good, too."   
"Yeah!" Yun grinned. "Grandpa's been teachin' us _kung fu_ and   
we've been gettin' really buff!" He flexed a wiry but muscular arm.   
Yang sighed as he leaned down to untie and remove his skates. "Also,   
our grandfather has been instilling in us the discipline and mental conditioning   
of the martial way. Though it works frequently as sort of a one-sided situation."   
"Hey-!" Yun started.   
Chun Li cut off the argument by saying "Well, you boys couldn't ask   
for a better teacher. You be sure to listen to him."   
"Of course, Older Sister." Yang said. "Grandfather is very wise."   
"Unfortunately, not very hip." Yun said under his breath. Yang booted   
him behind his leg. "Ow! I didn't mean any disrespect, Grandfather." he   
apologized to Gen sheepishly. "I just meant that some of the old ways are not as   
useful today."   
"Well, there's something to be said for the old ways." Chun Li said.   
"The reason they're so old is that because they usually work. Besides," she   
grinned. "I see you've adopted the traditional pigtail. It looks very nice on you."   
"Really?" Yun grinned and blushed. "Thanks."   
Yang tugged on the long queue his brother had braided his black hair   
into. "Don't confuse my brother's choice of hairstyle as a laudable gesture. In   
truth, he has been watching too much of a certain animation show from Japan   
and wishes to emulate its main character, a boy who turns into a girl."   
Chun Li blinked. "Really."   
Yun reddened. "Well, the same thing could be said about you, Yang.   
Or should I say "Son Gohan"?" he countered, regarding his brother's spiky 'do.   
"Don't insult Mr.Toriyama's magnum opus by comparing it to that   
excuse for a martial arts sitcom."   
"Why you-"   
"Boys, boys!" Gen interrupted. "That will be quite enough of that. Now   
go and wait for me at our usual area. Practice forms until I get there. And boys,"   
he fixed a stern gaze on them. "No skating."   
The twins' faces fell, if slightly.   
"Yes, Grandfather." Yang said, saluting both him and Chun Li. "It was   
good to see you again, Older Sister."   
Yun sulked, but still performed the salute.   
"You too, boys." she smiled, returning the honor. The twin siblings   
then made their exit -Yun picking up his skateboard and Yang throwing his   
laced in-liners over his shoulder- and headed for one of the smaller training   
rooms down the hall.   
Gen and Chun Li watched them go. "They're good kids." she said after   
a while.   
"That they are." Master Gen agreed.   
"Was I ever that young?" she asked wistfully.   
"Well, of course." Gen harrumphed. "And not that long ago, either."   
"I mean, was I ever that rambunctious?"   
"Sadly, no."   
"Eh?"   
"Nothing. Come, Chun Li, I would speak with you."   
"Yes, Master Gen."   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
Chapter Four- Regrets   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
  
Chun Li followed Master Gen out into the kwoon's massive outside   
garden. It was a beautiful place, with flower beds alive with peonies,   
chrysanthemums, jasmine, and other blooms. The explosion of colors contrasted   
deeply with the darkness of the black marble walkways.   
There were small goldfish ponds strewn throughout, fed by a giant   
fountain in the middle of the garden constructed out of marble and jade, and   
sculpted in the image of a great mountain. The water found its way to the ponds   
by small artificial creeks that were also lined with greenery.   
The scent and brilliance of the flower garden, as well as the soothing   
sound of the water, combined to provide an overall sense of complete   
tranquillity. The masters taught many of the internally-oriented arts here, such   
as _tai chi_, _hsing I_, and _pa kua_, for the calmness and peace they required.   
Many a student came here to think, to meditate, or simply to reflect. Chun Li   
wondered how many times she herself had come here in the past to do just that.   
Master Gen bid her to sit with him on one of the stone benches near the   
largest fish pond. He set down the package he brought with him, one that he had   
left out in the hall during his earlier arrival.   
Chun Li sat down next to her old teacher, wondering what it was he   
wanted to talk to her about.   
"Tell me, Little Sparrow." Master Gen began. "Are you well?"   
"Well?" Chun Li repeated. "I suppose so."   
"That is good. How goes the work in Interpol?"   
"Fine, I guess."   
"Is that so."   
For a while, they just sat there, Gen silent as the trees, Chun Li   
anxiously waiting for him to speak.   
After a while, he began to cough. Not violently, but hard. Chun Li went   
to his side and patted his back. She almost forgotten that he wasn't a well man.   
Physically, though. His mind and wisdom were intact, even though his body was   
failing him. Most days he was strong as ever, but occasionally he had fits and   
spells of weakness. The most common symptoms of his condition was the   
coughing fits. Sometimes they lasted well over an hour.   
"Are you all right, Master?" she asked, voice heavy with concern.   
"*Cough! Cough!* I *cough!* will be fine in a *cough!* moment.   
*Cough!*"   
Eventually, the master's coughing subsided, and he took out a cloth   
from his pocket and wiped his mouth. He quickly folded it and put away before   
Chun Li saw the blood it was spotted with.   
"I heard about what happened yesterday." he said at last.   
Chun Li was thrown by the bluntness and abruptness of his statement.   
She shouldn't have been, really. Master Gen wasn't a lot like those _kung fu_   
actors on TV, the ones who beat around the bush spouting mystical and Zen-   
funky claptrap. No, Master Gen always got to the heart of the matter first,   
because that's where his wisdom could do the most good.   
As for the information in question, that shouldn't have been surprising   
at all either. Master Gen had contacts within Interpol. In fact it was his clout that   
had smoothed her entry into the agency in the first place. He rarely used those   
contacts to keep an eye on her, but the most important events he knew about   
almost immediately.   
"I'm sorry about your friend." he went on, in a soft tone.   
"Oh." Chun Li said, looking away. "Well, he wasn't _really_ a friend,   
Master. He was an acquaintance. A close acquaintance."   
"Is that all he was?" Master Gen said, raising an eyebrow.   
She didn't answer. If she said anything else, she would have burst into   
tears. Keeping up this aloof facade was the only way for her to retain her   
composure.   
"I trust you heard about the rest of what happened yesterday, then."   
Chun Li said, trying to change the subject. This effort was not unnoticed by   
Master Gen, but he let it drop.   
"I may have." Master Gen said. "But the information I get is usually so   
distorted. Perhaps it would be best if you told me, in your own words, what   
happened."   
Chun Li sat up and cleared her throat. She turned to look her old   
mentor, whom she respected and loved, and tried to simply say: "I had to   
apprehend the perpetrator of a murder. He killed the courier, and I had to stop   
him. And I did."   
But nothing came out of her mouth. Master Gen waited for her to   
speak, that look of absolute patience ever present on his old face. She just sat   
there, mouth open and moving slightly, but she couldn't make her voice work.   
Suddenly, she felt the hot tears running down her face, and she did   
make a sound, finally: It was a sob.   
A sob of anguish and pain and absolute misery, and it didn't stop there.   
The next moment, she found herself weeping uncontrollably into her   
master's chest, his arms around her as she did so.   
Master Gen, a man who had both endured and meted out pain in his   
life, a man who had seen a world of suffering, an man who had been teaching   
his students all his life to break bones and manipulate pressure points, found   
himself holding her close.   
"I'm so tired, Master." Chun Li wailed through her tears. "I don't know   
what I'm doing or who I am anymore. Yesterday, a man -a _friend_-died   
because of me and my obsession with Bison."   
"Bison." Gen spoke the name with no ire or malevolence, though he   
knew the nature of that evil man all too well. And he also knew of young Chun   
Li's relentless quest for vengeance. Even though he had never fought him, he   
knew the stories. Many of which began during his travels a few years back,   
when he was on his own quest, on the tail of a man known by many names. The   
one known as Akuma.   
Chun Li's father had been one of his best disciples, as his daughter   
would be later on. He had felt great sorrow when the news of his death had   
reached him, and that sorrow was beginning to emerge again as he held the   
weeping child in his arms. Bison had killed destroyed two lives very close to   
him; one physically, and the other emotionally.   
"I've been doing this for so long, I lost sight of myself." she was   
saying. "But it's all I've got now. Day in, day out, all I've got is my pain and   
hatred to keep me going.   
"Child." Gen said softly, taking Chun Li by the shoulders and gently   
raising her up. "I had feared this would happen, but old fool that I am, I let it   
proceed."   
"Master?" Chun Li said, trying to compose herself long enough to hear   
what he was saying.   
"A wise man once said: 'Evil is evil enough. To let it live within us as   
the beast called Hate is only to feed it.' All I know is this: By letting this   
obsession with Bison control you, he has already won. He may have killed your   
father, but you must not let him do the same to your soul."   
"But Master," Chun Li said, sniffling, trying to compose herself. "I   
don't understand."   
"I know you do not. But-"   
Then, Master Gen was overtaken by another coughing fit. This time, he   
doubled over, one hand over his mouth, the other clutching his spasming   
abdomen.   
"Master!" Chun Li cried, alarmed at the abruptness and violence of this   
next fit. Gen waved her off until the coughing once again slowed, then ceased.   
This time, he turned to her, blood on his lips and marring his white   
beard. Her eyes widened, and she let out a gasp at the sight of those crimson   
stains.   
"I see you are surprised." Gen rasped. "But I suppose that is to be   
expected. You never knew the full extent of my injury after fighting Akuma, did   
you?"   
All Chun Li could do was shake her head, horrified at her teacher's   
condition. During her initial pursuit of Bison four years ago, she was surprised   
to run into her master in America. At the time, he didn't reveal to her what he   
was doing in the States, other than he too was chasing after some other fighter.   
She could only assume that this "Akuma" was that fighter.   
"I see I have much to tell you." Master Gen said, with a look of sadness   
invading those dark eyes. "And now is the time for you to hear, so that my fate   
will never be yours."   
It was all Chun Li could do to ask "What 'fate', Master?"   
"In time, you will know. But for the moment, hear my words."   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
Chapter Five- Master Gen's Story   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
  
Around the time that you went off to join Interpol, I began receiving   
news, terrible news, from all over the world from colleagues and friends.   
There were stories, horrible tales of a Dark Warrior, who left only   
death and destruction in his wake. It seemed that he was seeking out my   
comrades who were exponents in the fighting arts and challenging them. Now, I   
tell you, many of these men were fine warriors, lethal and more than a match for   
any ordinary man. But this Dark Warrior was more, or perhaps less, than any   
ordinary man.   
The eyewitnesses said that he was possessed of a terrible Darkness, a   
black and evil shroud of death. He rent from my old colleagues their very souls   
as well as their lives. His only mark, left on a destroyed temple or kwoon wall,   
was the Japanese character "ten", the symbol of, blasphemously enough,   
heaven.   
At first, I thought these stories were exaggerated, embellished by grief-   
stricken family members. But soon, it didn't matter. I had gone to too many   
funerals.   
And so, I set off in search of this Dark One, leaving behind my school   
and my students, vowing not to return until this evil was vanquished. The   
following months were trying. I first traveled to India to see my friend   
Kruyabhut Dahlsim, a resident teacher and guru. All he could tell me was the   
man's name, which I eventually learned was Akuma. At least that was the most   
consistent one. A later foray into Japan revealed that an alias was Gouki.   
The rest of my pursuit took me all over the world. Italy, Africa,   
England.......even the United States where I briefly ran into you that time. But   
everywhere I went, it was the same. The places this man Akuma had desecrated   
displayed death and ruin, exhibiting the machinations of a murderer and soulless   
monster. I journeyed on, all the time my hatred of him mounting and swelling.   
In time, I eventually was able to track the killer down to a cave in   
Okinawa. When I came face to face to him, he smiled, as though he had been   
expecting me. And perhaps he had.   
I will tell you, child, that this was a man whose allegiance was with the   
Unknown. He had the composition of a mad bull, and his eyes shone with a   
terrible, unholy red light. His teeth were as sharp and pointed as the stalactites   
we fought under, and he smiled a smile that promised only death. His voice was   
like shattering glass on rocks, as he mocked me and my attempts to bring him to   
justice. We fought.   
In all of my eighty-seven years of life, no other battle had strained me,   
stretched me like that one. No other contest had required all of my reserves, all   
of my strength and effort. But in the end, it availed me naught. After so many   
months of searching, my efforts had proved fruitless in my defeat.   
As I waited for this Akuma to finish me, I prepared a final strike, a   
blow that would have surely killed me, but would have ended his life as well.   
But oddly enough, he laughed and then somehow vanished, leaving me with the   
emptiness of the caverns and the darkness. In the end, I came away from my   
quest with nothing.   
Or so I had thought.   
  
As Master Gen concluded his tale, Chun Li was still trying to take it all   
in: The events of a dark portion of her master's life that were too similar to her   
own to be comfortable.   
"It is true that I escaped the battle alive, but not unscathed. As I   
returned home, I began to experience bouts of chest pain and terrible fits like the   
ones you have seen me exhibit tonight. At first I thought they were no more than   
injuries received after such a battle, and assumed that the effects would lessen   
after time. I was wrong.   
"The spells became worse, more intense after time. I finally went to see   
a doctor, and all he could tell me was that I have internal hemorrhaging; I am   
slowly bleeding to death inside. The only reason I am alive today is through the   
many potions and herbal remedies whose formulas I have procured over my life.   
Still, they serve only to delay the inevitable, not deny it."   
Master Gen said these last words in a matter-of-fact tone. He turned to   
see Chun Li staring at him with disbelief and shock.   
"I see that my words have been heard, Little Sparrow, and I wish that   
this news would have reached your ears under better circumstances. But now   
was the time for you to make the decision I never thought to make."   
Speechless, all Chun Li could do was sit there in confusion. Master   
Gen went on.   
"Be assured, I have no bitterness regarding my 'condition'. After all,   
death is part of life, and I have led a most enriching and fulfilling one. We   
warriors know this most of all. But to die from foolishness and impetuousness,   
that is a fate most undesirable. But it has become my lot in the remaining years   
of my life."   
"What do you mean, Master?"   
Master Gen took a long, shuddering breath, and Chun Li thought that   
he would start coughing again. Instead, he looked away from her as he spoke   
again.   
Master Gen somehow looked even older as he went on to say "During   
my battle with Akuma, I was consumed by my loathing and disgust of him. So   
much that the marginal success I had in simply surviving the encounter can only   
be attributed to divine intervention, for otherwise I should surely have perished.   
"But all the while, this Akuma seemed to sense my hate. What is more   
frightening is that he seemed to thrive on this malignance, adding the reflection   
of my hostility to his blows and strikes."   
Chun Li just sat there, hand over her mouth, finally beginning to   
understand.   
"By letting myself be taken in by the hate, the rage, the need for   
revenge, I ultimately fell to the same level that this Akuma existed on. I had   
become what I feared and hated, and he used it against me. Now I am dying,   
and it is by my own foolhardiness."   
Chun Li's eyes flowed with the tears of sorrow and grief, but this time   
they were not for herself.   
"I guess the one thing I regret most of all is the selfishness of my   
actions." Master Gen continued, his own eyes watering. "When I fought Akuma,   
I was blinded by one thing: vengeance. The many friends I had lost, the   
heartbreak from long months of searching through all the destruction, it all   
culminated in that battle. It was then I had lost sight of what I was doing.   
"The friends I told myself I was avenging? They were gone. Gone and   
at peace. Destroying Akuma would not have brought them back. And I doubt I   
would have cared. My 'mission' had gone from a quest for justice to a petty   
desire for vengeance. Somewhere along the way, I had forgotten what I was   
fighting for. I didn't want to defeat Akuma for what he had done, I wanted to   
_kill_ him for what he had taken away from me. The battles I fought, the people   
I faced, all I saw was him. His mocking image seemed to replace those of the   
opponents I fought during my journey. For by that time, I had ceased to   
see anything around me except my lust for this monster's blood. In the end, that   
bloodlust was my undoing."   
Quickly wiping his eyes, Master Gen faced Chun Li with a most   
serious expression, a combination of pleading and determination in his eyes.   
"And it is this same bloodlust that will be _your_ undoing, Little   
Sparrow, if you do not heed my words."   
Chun Li met her master's gaze, her own eyes beginning to clear as she   
listened.   
"This man, Bison. Do you seek to destroy him for the evil you say he   
is? Or have you followed that deceptive and hazardous path called vengeance?"   
Master Gen put a warm hand on Chun Li's shoulder. "I know how   
much your father meant to you, Little Sparrow. But the time for grieving has   
long passed, save for the sorrow you carry in your heart. I knew your father, he   
was one of my closest students, perhaps even more so than you. And I know that   
he would know sadness at the pain his death caused you. But he would surely   
weep at the pain you have inflicted upon yourself."   
Master Gen stood. He seemed stronger, now.   
"The choice is yours to make, Little Sparrow. Can you turn from the   
path of destruction? Can you strive for the justice that precedes your own need   
for revenge? These questions may hold your destiny."   
Chun Li was silent as Master Gen picked up the package that he had   
brought with him. He handed it to her, and she took it with gentle hands.   
"This is a remainder of the past. I know not what to do with it, but it   
belongs to you. Like many other gifts in life, it is up to you what you do with   
it."   
With that, Master Gen turned and silently walked away.   
Chun Li opened the package carefully, removing its cellophane   
wrapped contents.   
What was inside took her breath away.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
Chapter Six- The Gift   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
  
Chun Li held up a specialized Chinese _wu shu_ uniform; a flowing   
blue silk tunic, trimmed with gold. A folded white sash embroidered with water   
dragons and a pair of white hair ornaments lay in a neat bundle in one corner of   
the box.   
She remembered this outfit. As a child, it had been the only thing that   
Chun Li had of her mother's, her only legacy. All she had known is that the   
silken uniform had been worn by her mother during her days in the Peking   
Opera, before she had met Chun Li's father.   
After she had died, he had kept the uniform, hoping to someday give it   
to their daughter. But Chun Li had been too small even for the costume's slight   
dimensions and they had put it away, waiting for the day she could wear it.   
That day had come.   
Almost unconsciously, Chun Li began to slip the uniform on over the   
orange unitard she wore. As she did so, Master Gen's words ran through her   
mind.   
So much of what he had said was true of her. In many ways, she had   
forgotten what she was fighting for. In the beginning, it had been to avenge her   
father. Later on, it was because Bison was threatening the world. But soon, it   
had become revenge. Pure, unadulterated revenge, and not for her father, or   
for the people who met their end because of Bison. The revenge was for herself.   
She hated Bison for what he had taken away from _her_. How _she_ had   
suffered. She had stopped caring about the people she was supposedly trying to   
protect to somehow satisfy her selfish need to ultimately _get even_.   
The uniform fit perfectly. It felt comfortable, familiar, somehow. It felt   
_right_. She then started on the hair ornaments. She undid the braid her hair was   
done up in and let her chestnut locks spill down her back as she returned to her   
thoughts.   
But what to do now? Resign from the case? It seemed like the most   
straightforward thing to do, but not the easiest. Revenge or no, she had devoted   
much of her life to this assignment, and she wanted to have a hand of some sort   
in its resolution. She wanted to see this through to the end.   
But if she did, would it be worth it?   
Would all the years spent hounding Bison be worth the life she could   
have led?   
Would it be worth the lives of the innocents, like Donny?   
Would it be worth her soul?   
When she was done, she stood up, the ornaments comfortably in place.   
Chun Li strode over to the nearest fish pond and peered into its mirrorlike   
surface, where her heart caught in her chest.   
The image staring back at her was that of her mother.   
Chun Li's eyes began to tear up again, but not from sorrow or grief, as   
they had these past long years. These were tears of joy.   
She had never known her mother, but through the love her father had   
carried within him the day he decided to save the uniform she now wore, she   
felt as though both her parents were standing there alongside that pond with   
her. Her mother was reflected in her face, and her father was reflected   
in her heart.   
Suddenly, a lot of things became clear to Chun Li.   
She owed it to her father's memory to make sure her own life was not   
wasted in the most futile of ways. She shuddered at the thought that she had   
forgotten his zeal for life in her own foolish attempts at revenge, and in doing so   
had forgotten him.   
No longer.   
Suddenly, with a whoop of high-spirited laughter, Chun Li threw   
herself back into a flip, going from that into a one-handed cartwheel, and from   
there into an aerial somersault. She literally bounced from one end of the garden   
to another, leaping and spinning in the air like her master's nickname for her. It   
had been a long time since she had done so, and it made her feel alive.   
Landing, Chun Li found new strength in her stride as she walked   
towards the training hall doors.   
She knew what she had to do. It was not too late to make a fresh start   
for herself. She would drive right over to headquarters right now and resign   
from the case, if not from Interpol itself.   
Walking into the main hall, she noticed something was wrong, even in   
her gaiety.   
The lights had been turned off, and she was sure that she had turned   
them on before going out into the garden. Master Gen couldn't have turned   
them off, because he had gone off in a different direction after their talk.   
_Someone's here._ she thought.   
Suddenly, Chun Li felt a rush of air, and reflexively dropped and rolled   
to the right. She felt something just miss her, and when she got to her feet and   
turned, she saw that there were three thin slashes in the wall near where she had   
just been standing.   
She threw her hand to the wall and switched the lights on.   
"I see that you were all that Hirotaka said you were." said a light, yet   
malevolently smooth voice. That voice belonged to a man standing in the   
middle of the room. A tall, rather handsome man, no doubt a Spaniard, with   
long voluminous golden tresses tied back in a pony tail. A noble of some sort, if   
his attire was any indication. He was clad in a white silk shirt open to the   
midriff, as well as indigo trousers and stockings. His hands were clasped behind   
his back, a detail Chun Li was very wary of.   
"Before you ask, Hirotaka is our agent who you so graciously pulped   
yesterday. A fine bit of work, too, if I may say so. He seemed to think the same,   
that is until he met with a most unfortunate accident in jail a few hours ago."   
*Agent?* Chun Li thought. *Shadowlaw!*   
"Who are you?!" she demanded. "What do you want!?"   
The Spaniard made a tsk-tsking noise. "Don't you know it's rude to   
speak in that tone, my lady? For your information and pleasure, I am known as   
Vega. And what I want-"   
Vega's green eyes narrowed as he smiled evilly.   
"-is you."   
"Me." Chun Li said, every muscle in her body tensing at that response.   
"Yes. Or rather, it is my employer who wants you. Wants you dead,   
that is."   
"Bison."   
"I see you've heard of him. How fortunate, for he has most   
_definitely_ heard of _you_. You've been a busy little bee, haven't you, Miss   
Inspector Chun Li of Interpol? Every little buzz you make interrupts Lord   
Bison's plans. And he finds that most annoying."   
"Remind me to cry, if I ever get around to caring."   
Vega chuckled at her dry humor. "A fine joke. What isn't a joke is that   
when Lord Bison gets annoyed, people get hurt. Like your 'friend'. Donny,   
wasn't it?"   
Chun Li's face darkened. "What do you know of Donny Yinyang?"   
"Oh, just about nothing." Vega said matter-of-factly. "But enough to   
know that you just can't pass up an opportunity to throw him around a little,   
even if it's out of affection or some other such nonsense. Besides, he _was_ the   
best little honest thief in all of China. Which is why I gave him a little call   
yesterday, to get him to do a little job for me."   
Chun Li's eyes were ablaze with anger. "You! You're the one who set   
Donny up!"   
Vega laughed again. "Actually we set _you_ up. That common rabble   
served as bait. It's a pity, isn't it? If not for you, he'd be alive right now."   
Her teeth ground together as she dropped into her stance. "Monster."   
she growled. "You're going to pay for that."   
Vega laughed a third time, a braying, mocking laugh. "Somehow, I   
don't think so."   
He brought his hands out from behind him, Chun Li prepared to leap   
out of the path of a bullet if need be. But Vega carried no firearm. Instead, his   
right hand was sheathed in a gilded bracelet and velvet glove, with three long   
deadly-looking blades radiating outward from the top of his hand. It was similar   
to the fighting claws some _ninja_ used, but more ornate, and _much_ more   
sharp.   
In Vega's other hand was a white mask, made of a strong plaster or   
wood it seemed, that he slipped over his face. Chun Li had done a study on   
European facades in university, and she recognized this particular mask design   
as being similar to the one the infamous torturer known as Torquemada was said   
to have worn. It was named the Mask of Agony.   
Vega slashed at the air a few times before falling back into his own   
battle stance.   
"All the tricks and weapons in the world won't save you." Chun Li   
said. "I'm taking you down."   
"That would be possible, if it were simply you and I. But, by a reason   
far beyond my understanding, Lord Bison has chosen to saddle me with............   
'assistants'."   
As if on cue, two more men entered the room. One, an American, was   
beefy, brutish, and wore camouflage fatigues. He was ugly, stupid-looking, and   
unshaven, with a baseball cap atop his messy brown locks.   
The other man was lean and hungry looking. Looking of indeterminate   
age, he was dressed all in black, save for his face. His hawkish nose and bushy   
eyebrows gave him the appearance of a hunting bird of prey.   
"Allow me to introduce Crank Howard and Helmut Klatsch. They're a   
bit low on the Shadowlaw ladder, but they get the job done. Crank made a name   
for himself in the American underground fight circuits as "the Mechanic', until   
he discovered he liked taking things apart a bit too much. Klatsch is an Austrian   
assassin, a master of the Indonesian martial art _pencak silat_. He is wanted in   
four continents for many things done to to many people."   
The two men came forward to stand at Vega's side.   
"From what I know of you, Inspector, is that you might surely defeat   
these two in a heart beat. But even if you faced me alone you wouldn't have   
a chance."   
"We'll see about that." Chun Li snarled, readying herself.   
"Come now, Inspector, three against one? Those odds are definitely not   
in your favor."   
"Would three against _four_ suffice, then?"   
Chun Li turned to see that Master Gen, Yun, and Yang had appeared   
behind her. She exchanged a glance with the master, and then returned her   
attention to her enemy.   
"Who's the geek in the silly Halloween mask?" Yun piped up, chewing   
and popping a wad of gum. "Betcha he's reeaalllly ugly lookin'."   
This remark seemed to enrage Vega. "Insolent little pup! Hundreds   
have died at my hand, thankful to have been slain by one as handsome as I! I am   
Vega, known in Barcelona as the Beautiful Death!"   
Yun was unflapped by this little rant. "Riiiiight. Howzabout I just   
call you 'dork' for short?" Then, he pushed off on his skateboard and hurled   
himself at Vega.   
"Yun, watch out!" Chun Li screamed.   
Yun leapt, board and all, and began to descend towards the Spanish   
Ninja, until he saw a flash of steel. He backflipped off his skateboard in mid air,   
a mere instant before Vega's claw cleaved it in two.   
He landed back where he had started, while his skateboard hit the   
ground in two separate pieces.   
Yun was aghast. "That was my favorite board, butthead!" he yelled. All   
Vega did was laugh that shrill, mocking laugh.   
He was about to hurl himself at Vega again, until his brother stopped   
him by grabbing his pigtail.   
"Oww!" Yun protested. "Yang, what's up with you?"   
"I believe," Yang said in his infinite calmness. "that there is a better   
strategy here that getting killed. Grandfather?"   
Master Gen pondered for the slightest moment and then said. "You   
boys handle the big fellow, Chun Li will-"   
"Vega is mine." she stated.   
"Are you sure?" Master Gen said, hopeful that his earlier words had   
not been wasted.   
Chun Li gave a slight smile. "Don't worry, Master." she reassured him.   
"I know who my enemy is."   
Master Gen's thick beard hid the grin creeping at the edges of his   
mouth. "Very well. I'll take the last one, then."   
"Come, little sheep!" Vega called, impatiently. "The slaughter awaits."   
And then the battle began.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
Chapter Seven- Finale   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
  
"Let's double team 'im, bro!" Yun yelled to his brother.   
"We shall." agreed Yang.   
The two youths charged the big, burly American. Yun leapt into the   
air again, while Yang sped forward on his skates. While this Crank had a   
definite height and musculature advantage, the twins had something that was   
more of an edge: Teamwork.   
In the past six years that their grandfather had been teaching them   
_kung fu_, he had focused on their relationship as twin brothers. He had trained   
them in such a way that the two worked best as a team. Their fighting styles   
were identical, a mixture of _wu shu_, _chang chuan_, animal styles such as   
crane, snake, and mantis such as their grandfather used, but how they used that   
knowledge was the extraordinary part.   
Yun thrust his foot out in a diving kick, which Crank caught. The   
roughneck was about to do him some major harm, until Yang buried his fist in   
his voluminous gut. Unfortunately, the ruffian didn't seem to feel it, and   
backhanded Yun's brother across the face.   
Fazed, but not out, Yang stepped back, and then came forward again   
with a high leaping kick. The attack was more of an distraction, as Yun finally   
found enough purchase to wrap one leg around Crank's arm and then suddenly   
pull backwards.   
_SNAP_   
With a bellow, Crank dropped Yun, who bounced back to his feet. The   
American's arm hung limp at his side, and his face turned red with rage. Yang   
inwardly cringed at the ugly mask of death. His brother gave him the nod to   
engage one of their more powerful strikes.   
"_Zesshou Hohou _!" he yelled as he charged forward at a blinding   
speed. He then slammed his fist into the beefy man, knocking him back. Then it   
was Yun's turn.   
He ran forward and then dropped into a roll. As soon as he was under   
the stunned American, he thrust his foot upwards in a technique taught to them   
from their grandfather's own repertoire.   
"_Senkyutai _!" Yun's foot made contact with Crank's face,   
carrying them both up into the air. Yun caught himself and landed on one knee.   
Crank hit the wooden floor with a _thud_, and that was that.   
"Way t'go, bro!" Yun cheered as he and his otherwise very stoic   
brother leapt and exchanged a high-five.   
  
Master Gen and his opponent, Helmut, circled each other like two lions   
competing for territory. Their faces were as hard and as cold as ice, eyes   
locked on each other, as both men were of little words.   
Master Gen had dropped into his crane stance, hands with index finger   
outstretched as if to mimic the head of the animal. Klatsch was shuffling from   
one foot to another, making movements as if to welcome and invite the   
challenge.   
Suddenly, he lashed out with a punch, which Master Gen had been   
waiting for. Crane style was highly defensive/reactionary. He grabbed the   
Austrian's wrist, pulled him forward and slammed the heel of his palm into his   
chest.   
Klatsch was staggered, the wind knocked out of him, but was ready to   
come back for more. He threw a roundhouse kick to the master's head, which he   
dodged. He got lucky with a whirling punch, but Master Gen recovered in an   
instant.   
"_Hyakurenkou_!" he shouted as his fist became an impossibly fast   
barrage of punches, making contact with several points on the assassin's body,   
sending him up and away.   
Master Gen was about to close in, when he stumbled, having   
momentarily lost his balance. Time and his illness had hampered his once   
legendary fighting prowess, and he knew he couldn't perform too many of those   
techniques. He shook his head, as he saw his adversary get to his own feet.   
Then, Klatsch did a rather peculiar thing: He backflipped a few feet   
away, and then dropped into a horse-straddle stance. Master Gen fell into his   
Mantis stance, preparing for whatever the killer might dish out.   
"_Komodo Strike_!" yelled the Austrian, as in the blink of an eye, he   
hurtled forward like a human projectile and rammed both legs into the master's   
abdomen.   
The pain was incredible, and only partly because Master Gen's   
condition was centered in his chest. He landed by hitting the far wall, and   
reflexively flipping back onto his feet. Klatsch's technique had done a fair bit of   
damage, and it was due to the master's otherwise top physical conditioning that   
he wasn't knocked cold right then and there. As it was, his vision had gone hazy   
at the edges.   
Sensing his opponent's vulnerability, Klatsch pressed his advantage by   
leaping in and assailing Master Gen with a volley of punches and kicks. Even in   
his weakened state, the master was able to block or dodge most of the attacks,   
but a few got through. An uppercut got in through his defenses, knocking him to   
the side.   
Master Gen found himself on the floor, struggling to get to his feet as   
he heard Klatsch approach from behind. There were few choices left to him at   
this point; either surrender or try for one last technique that could quite possibly   
kill him.   
And, seeing as how surrendering was never one of his favorite   
options.........!   
He whirled from his position on the floor and landed an kick on   
Klatsch's jaw. While the Austrian was knocked back, he thrust out with his hand   
and pressed several points strategically on his upper body. Then, the master   
rolled quickly away.   
Klatsch was now quite enraged and began to shout expletives in   
German at his own stupidity. Whirling, he faced Master Gen who had been able   
to roll away to the other side of the hall.   
When he tried to charge towards him, Klatsch found that, oddly   
enough, his left leg was beginning to go numb.   
From where he was leaning against the wall for support, Master Gen   
breathed an exhausted sigh of relief as he saw his final attack begin to take   
effect. He could see the confused and shocked expression on his opponent's   
face, as he realized that feeling was draining from every part of his body.   
As Klatsch's vision went hazy, he opened his mouth as if to say   
something, or perhaps scream. The only sound he could make his vocal cords   
produce was "Huuuunnnnnnnggghhhhhhh.........."   
Then he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.   
Master Gen joined him a few moments later.   
  
"Grandfather!" Yang cried as he saw Master Gen crumple. The two   
young boys quickly ran to where he lay. The old man was breathing hard,   
dazed, but seemed otherwise alive.   
The two boys knew of his "condition", and also knew that exertion of   
this magnitude was hazardous.   
"Gramps!" Yun called to him as Yang bid him to sit, leaning against   
the wall. "Grandpa, you okay?"   
"I have been better, young one." Master Gen managed. "But, I suppose   
for having been out of action for a few years, I could be worse."   
"Sheesh, Gramps, you really had us worried there for a moment." Yun   
went on in a scolding tone. "Ya better leave all the butt-kicking to us younger   
guys, from now on."   
In an eyeblink, Master Gen bopped Yun upside the head. Not hard, but   
firmly.   
"If it's one thing I must do before leaving this Earth, it is to teach you   
respect for your elders, boy." he sighed. "I trust you two prevailed."   
"Yes Grandfather." Yang said, "he was no challenge."   
"Hrnh. I see that humility must be your lesson to learn, Yang."   
Then, the three turned to where Chun Li was doing battle with Vega.   
From what they could make out, the were locked in a game of cat and mouse,   
the Spaniard as the predator. He was the fastest thing they had ever seen. Chun   
Li was doing all she could do avoid his attacks with those blades attached to his   
hand.   
"Grandfather, shall we go and assist Chun Li?"   
Master Gen's brow furrowed in deep consideration. Then, after a   
moment:   
"No."   
"What?" the two youths uttered in unison.   
"You heard me. This battle is not ours to win."   
"Grandfather." Yang protested. "Surely, this Vega is more than a   
match for her."   
"Even so, she must face this threat alone." he responded simply.   
"That's bull, Gramps!" Yun shouted angrily. "I'm not gonna sit by an'   
watch her get killed-" He started to rise.   
"Yun." Master Gen said.   
"What?!"   
"SIT DOWN."   
At that tone of voice, Yun knew his grandfather was serious, and   
obediently sat.   
  
Chun Li was not faring as well as her friends had.   
Whoever this Vega was, he was _fast_. One minute into the fight, and   
she had yet to land a blow on him, due to his incessant leaping, flipping, and   
rolling about. Most of the time, she had just been trying to get within striking   
distance, while at the same time avoiding that lethal claw he brandished.   
She also had to fight empty handed, another disadvantage. Her   
_kikoken_ was useless, as it required a short period of focus and concentration   
that would have been considered momentary at any other time. But as it was,   
her mastery of _chi_ projection left much to be desired and she would most   
likely abandon the use of such techniques after this fight.   
That is, if she _survived_.   
All she knew was that she had to get away from that _claw_.   
The metal talons seemed to be everywhere, taking on a life of their   
own, hungry for her blood. In the past few moments, there had been countless   
times she just barely avoided their steely kiss.   
Chun Li leapt into the air towards the Spaniard, lashing out with a   
flying reverse kick, and missed him by mere centimeters. Landing, she quickly   
bent over backwards, as the claws passed over her. She then fell back into a flip,   
landing on all fours, keeping her eyes on her adversary.   
Vega had taken to the air himself, and was hurtling at her with that   
claw extended in a deadly dive.   
With no time even to scream, she rolled out of the way, but felt the   
cold steel bite into her side. Pain shot into her for only a second, but it was   
intense.   
Flipping back onto her feet, her hand instinctively clapped to her side; it   
came away red. The cut wasn't deep, a glancing blow, so there would mostly   
likely be no permanent damage. But even so, adrenaline was the only thing   
keeping away the pain that would become most inconvenient if she didn't end   
this soon.   
"Ah, me." Vega sighed wistfully, sliding his mask slightly up off his   
face to expose a forlorn expression. "What a pity it is that I must pluck the   
petals from such a lovely flower. But it was destined that we meet, I suppose."   
"What are you talking about?" Chun Li stalled, taking full advantage of   
the arrogant noble's ill-timed choice to wax poetic. "You're just another one of   
Bison's henchmen, a boot licker."   
"A henchman?" Vega laughed. "I suppose that is what I have sunk to.   
But you would be surprised at one must do in the name of beauty."   
Chun Li struggled to her feet, mind racing to form a strategy.   
"I was once a _matador, a bull fighter, the best in all of Spain." the   
noble said. "But I soon became bored with dumb animals for sport and tried my   
hand at the underworld cage fights. That is where I amassed a fortune, and   
developed a taste for the finer things the world has to offer. And the finest of all   
is beauty."   
Her side began to throb, but at least the bleeding had slowed. The   
narcissistic Spaniard went on.   
"Until now, I believed myself to be the most beautiful person on the   
face of Earth, but when Lord Bison came to my estate asking for my support, he   
told me of you and showed me your picture. It was then that I saw I would have   
to be content with being the most beautiful _man_."   
"Remind me to offer my congratulations after I'm done vomiting."   
Chun Li hissed.   
"Such harsh words. I thought you would find it flattering. Then again, I   
suppose most of your virtue lies in your features and not in your manners."   
He brought the mask down over his face again.   
"Though I suspect etiquette will be the least -and the last- of your   
worries. Prepare to die, Inspector."   
By now, Chun Li had formulated a battle plan. _He has a considerable   
advantage over me._ she contemplated. _That weapon. I must even the odds, but   
how?_   
Vega somersaulted backwards into his stance, readying his claw.   
Reflexively, Chun Li began to rush forward and meet him, but stopped.   
It dawned on her that she had been trying to play this game by Vega's   
rules. As he had kept flipping and leaping about the hall, all she had done was   
try to match him technique for technique. Tried to beat him by emulating him.   
She had tried to fight fire with fire and succeeded only in burning herself.   
_The second advantage he has over me is the air. He's faster, more   
agile than I. But all of his most powerful attacks so far have been leaping and   
flying strikes. I must use that against him._   
The strategy she came up with was risky, dangerous, but it was perhaps   
her only hope.   
She took a few steps backwards until her back touched the wall, and   
then sat down.   
For a moment, there was total silence in the training hall as she just sat   
there, cross-legged with her hands folded into her lap. Vega, Master Gen, and   
the two boys all stared at Chun Li's incredibly vulnerable position.   
Even so, the vain Spaniard was thrown from his stride for less than a   
second. His face curled into a haughty sneer behind that mask.   
"Have you surrendered, then?" he said, eyeing her dubiously.   
Chun Li said nothing. She fixed her eyes in a rock hard gaze that   
unnerved even him for a fleeting moment.   
"Very well. I shall remember your beauty fondly."   
With that, Vega leapt up into the air and began to descend in another   
swan dive, that gleaming claw outstretched before him. It was aimed directly at   
her throat.   
The next few moments passed as if time had itself had slowed.   
Vega continued in his descent-   
Yun screamed Chun Li's name-   
Yang and Master Gen looked on in abject horror-   
Chun Li's breath was clutched by her heartbeat-   
And then, in the one tenth of a second that it would have taken for   
Vega's claw to cleave her jugular, Chun Li-   
-with all of her years of training both traditional and military-   
-simply moved a few inches to the right.   
It was less than a foot, only eight inches was the distance she moved   
her head, but it was enough for those steel blades to miss her completely and   
embed itself in the wall.   
For another of those intense moments of confusion, Vega didn't   
understand what had happened. His hand should have been stained bright red by   
now, but he had felt no flesh give way to his Flying Barcelona Attack, the most   
deadly strike in his arsenal. It soon hit him that he, Vega, the deadliest fighter of   
all of Spain, the most lethal of M. Bison's lieutenants, the infamous "Beautiful   
Death" had been suckered by the ages-old tactic of his opponent _getting out of   
the way_.   
His self-reproachment ended when Chun Li punched him in the gut.   
The wind knocked out of him, he tried to wrench his hand free from   
the wall, but found that his weapon was stuck. Seeing as how the claw was   
strapped to his hand by leather bonds, he was trapped and defenseless. This was   
an opening soon taken.   
Chun Li brought her elbow down on the top of his hand, where the   
blades were fastened. All three snapped like dead twigs. She then thrust a palm   
strike into his chest, sending him back now that his hand was free. She rose to   
meet him, the fury of battle now awakened within her.   
Evidently, Vega's mastery of his claw weapon was something of a   
handicap, because his empty hand skills left much to be desired. He had a   
considerable propensity for kicks, but they were slow, exaggerated, predictable.   
It would seem that he hadn't had much use for such attacks in a while, always   
depending on the claw to deal the damage needed.   
Chun Li tore into him with whirling kicks, lightning-fast punches, and   
other crushing blows. She parried a feeble punch, hooked her leg over his arm,   
and kicked him in the head, twice. The mask took the brunt of the impact, but   
Vega's eyes began to lose their focus; they were starting to become glassy,   
disoriented.   
The tables had now turned, with Yun cheering her from the side, Yang   
uneasily joining in. Master Gen watched his former pupil fight with precision,   
skill, and efficiency, and yet he was wary of the savageness that increased with   
every strike, building in her.   
Finally, Vega took to the air once again, if only to get away from the   
flurry of punches and kicks that his former prey had become. She had now   
become the predator.   
Chun Li saw the Spaniard leap high up in the air, and smiled devilishly.   
_Got you!_   
"_HAZAN TENSHO KYAKU!!!_" she screamed as she spun into the   
air like a tornado, bringing her foot back, around, and finally up into Vega's   
jaw. Once, twice, three times she delivered an explosive kick to his facade-   
sheathed face until the white Mask of Agony shattered into pieces.   
Vega, countenance miraculously unscathed, fell to the ground in a   
heap.   
When Chun Li landed a second later, her heartbeat had become the   
sound of a war drum, beating out an intense rhythm in her ears. She pounced   
upon the barely conscious Vega, bloodlust stirring in her once again.   
She grabbed him by the silken shirt he wore, staring contemptuously   
down into that deceptively handsome visage.   
And then, it began again.   
The aquiline nose seemed to mutate, to metamorphose. It broadened,   
became shorter. The tone of his flesh darkened. The thin mouth became a   
mocking sneer filled with sharp teeth, and the narrow jawline hardened and   
sculpted itself into a rock hard cut. His eyes came alive with that evil light. The   
locks of flaxen hair seemed to disappear, replaced with a red general's cap   
bearing that same skull and wings insignia.   
BISON.   
Chun Li began to sweat profusely, her heart hammering away at her   
within her chest, muscles tensed and knotted. The rage and the hate came   
rushing back, drowning her in a red hot wave. She cocked her arm back,   
forming her hand into a claw, index and middle fingers protruding slightly out   
from her clenched fist.   
From where he watching, Master Gen's eyes widened in shock.   
He recognized the hand position as that of the Leopard Paw Strike, a destructive   
blow known only by a few, and taught to even less. If used, the Leopard Paw   
Strike could do terrible damage. At the very least, it would break every bone in   
the Spaniard's face. At the very least. The blow could very easily kill.   
Chun Li's head swam with the fury that was surging through her being.   
It the next moments she would end this man's life with one blow. Vega, whose   
face had lost all of its cocky swagger, stared with fear at her fist, ready to come   
crashing into him.   
Chun Li began to bring her fist forward-   
-and stopped.   
Somewhere, in the recesses of her heart, a voice spoke.   
_This won't solve your problems._ it said. _Killing him won't make   
the pain go away._   
_But he's my enemy_ she argued incoherently _He works for Bison. I   
must do this._   
_True, he is an enemy, but it is not him you want to destroy. He is   
simply a lackey, a foulness branching out from the evil that is Bison, the source   
of your pain._   
_But-_   
_Have you forgotten already what your father wanted for you?_   
Chun Li flashed back to the moment in the garden, just minutes ago.   
The anger began to subside.   
_Calm yourself._ the voice went on. _You must not become what it is   
you despise._   
_Yes._ she agreed. _I must not let him beat me. If not physically, then   
emotionally. This man, Vega-_   
_Is evil as well, but you must pluck out a weed from its black roots, not   
by its corrupted leaves._   
_I understand_   
_Good._   
Chun Li opened her eyes as her internal dialogue drew to an end. Her   
fist, still in the Leopard's Paw position, had stopped scant centimeters away   
from Vega's nose. If she had connected, she would have pushed his nasal bones   
into the back of his head, killing him.   
She let out a breath, and slowly let go of his shirt. Then, she got up,   
and took a few steps backwards.   
"Get up." she spat at him.   
Vega, who wasn't exactly sure what to make of all this, blinked, and   
made a somewhat successful attempt at regaining his composure. He slowly,   
cautiously, stood up.   
"Get out."   
Vega glared at her most severely, cockiness and arrogance already   
finding their way back onto his face.   
"You have made a most dire mistake, Inspector." he sniffed. "You have   
let me live after defeating me. I would most surely kill you for that, for making   
me live with my shame. However," he paused to caress his features   
momentarily, as if to make sure they were all there, "since you spared my face, I   
shall call this a draw. But be forewarned! We are now even. The next time we   
meet, I should think I will not be so merciful."   
"I'm looking forward to it." Chun Li said. "Now get out."   
Vega, and his two barely coherent underlings began to limp their way   
to the exit, when she called out.   
"One more thing."   
Vega turned, half-expecting another attack.   
"When you get back to Bison, tell him 'nice try'. And that I'm coming   
for him."   
Having said that, Chun Li folded her arms and smiled. Vega glared at   
her fiercely, and then slunk away in silence.   
After they had gone, she let out the breath she had been holding and   
found that her legs would barely support her. The renewed burning in her side   
reminded her of her sustained injury, and she fell to one knee.   
"Chun Li!" Yun cried, rushing forward to her. Master Gen, aided by   
Yang, limped after him.   
"Are you all right?" Yun asked, kneeling next to her. Chun Li took a   
few deep breaths and answered.   
"I think I'll be all right." she smiled weakly. "It's not deep."   
"Even so," Master Gen said, "we should get you to a hospital."   
"Master, I don't-" she began.   
"Hush. You may be a warrior now, but I'm still your elder and you'll   
listen to me. After all, we must teach this young rogue by example, no?"   
Yun blushed. Chun Li chuckled, and then winced from the effort.   
"Boys, go and call an ambulance, please." Gen instructed his   
grandsons. For the first time, both Yun and Yang obeyed without an argument.   
As the two youths headed for the kwoon's office, Yun noticed an item   
on the floor.   
"Hang on, bro." he said as he stopped to kneel and pick it up. It was   
Crank's baseball cap, the one they had knocked off him in their final attack. It   
was surprisingly clean, made out of blue material, with a long yellow bill.   
Yun slipped it on, and found that it was almost a perfect fit, save for   
being a little too big. The bill drooped down covering his eyes.   
"Whaddya think, bro?" he grinned. "Is it me, or what?"   
"Why are you wearing that thing?" Yang asked, nose wrinkling in   
distaste. "You don't know where it's been!"   
"Aw, c'mon, Yang. Haven't you ever heard the old term 'to the victor   
go the spoils?'. 'Sides, I know exactly where it's been. It's been on the head of   
some dude we just opened up a BIG ol' can of butt-whup on!"   
"Whatever you say, brother." Yang sighed, rolling his eyes. "Whatever   
you say. All I know is that it makes you look like a duck, with that long bill.   
Still," Yang grinned, the first time he had done so that night, "whatever covers   
up that hair of yours is fine by me."   
"Hey-!"   
As the boys' arguing voices got quieter, Master Gen tended to Chun   
Li's wound as best he could. He bid her to lean against him for support as he   
inspected the gash on her side.   
"You are right." he said. "It's not deep. It was just long enough to   
cause you discomfort. Still, stitches may be in order."   
Chun Li just nodded.   
"You must be more careful, though." Gen said in a slightly reproving   
tone. "You put yourself in grave danger recklessly this night. It would be wise   
to be more cautious next time."   
Chun Li sighed. "Master, I appreciate your concern, but like you said,   
my injury is not serious."   
"I wasn't talking about your physical condition."   
"Master?"   
Gen sighed, and sat down next to her, weary from exhaustion and his   
own injuries.   
"Near the end," he began, "when you had Vega at your mercy, I   
thought..........." he trailed off suggestively.   
"Yes, master?"   
"I thought we had lost you."   
Chun Li seemed to think for a moment.   
"You almost did, master." she said at last. "You almost did, at that. But   
I see now, master, I finally _see_. My path is clear."   
And then something strange happened.   
For the first time in all the while she had known him, Master Gen   
smiled.   
"That is good." he said, finally.   
Chun Li smiled back, and then lay her head against his chest and   
rested.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
Epilogue- The End of the Beginning   
Patterson Air Force Base   
Two weeks later   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
  
"Inspector?"   
"Yes?" Chun Li said as she looked up, trying to stifle a yawn. With the   
seats in the back of the Interpol-commissioned limo being as comfortable as   
they were, she'd very nearly fallen asleep. Her internal clock still being on Hong   
Kong time didn't help matters any.   
"We've arrived." said the driver.   
"Good. Thank you."   
She looked out the window and took in the sight of the air force base. It   
looked like any other military installation, but this place would have special   
significance in the days to come.   
_This is where it begins._ she thought to herself. _With this Major   
Guile's help, the operation will enter its final stages. The end to this all is near   
but it begins here._   
Or did it? With a bit of reflection, she would have considered that   
perhaps it began the day her father had died. When she had sworn vengeance on   
Shadowlaw and devoted her life to its destruction.   
Perhaps it had begun the day she was admitted into Interpol, finally   
finding the means to an end, a way to finally find the answers she had sought.   
Perhaps it had begun that day in the Brazilian rainforest years ago,   
facing the man she had come to despise. Bison, who revealed the truth about her   
father's death.   
Perhaps it had begun the moment Donny Yinyang had been killed,   
opening her eyes to see the innocents she had all but forgotten about.   
Perhaps it had begun the morning after the fight at the kwoon. Chun Li   
still chuckled to herself as she remembered the look on Zheng's face when she   
showed up in his office, bandaged and slightly limping, to accept her position in   
the final part of Operation: Shadowlaw. He was appalled not only at her   
condition, but at her newfound enthusiasm that seemed to have flourished   
despite the assassination attempt. Or maybe even because of it.   
Perhaps it had even begun that night before. Master Gen's words and   
the long-cherished memories of her father finally letting her see the self-   
destruction she had been thrusting herself towards.   
But no, it had truly begun the moment she had spared the life of her   
assassin, Vega. She had fought a battle not against just him, but at the black rage   
that had swelled within her for many years. And she had won. At that moment   
of truth, she had refused to let the hate control her and had found what she had   
really been searching for: Peace.   
But she had realized a great many things that night, while in the   
hospital. One of them was the consideration of how selfish she had been in her   
endeavors. Her pain was justified, no doubt, but it dawned on her that Bison had   
ruined, was ruining, many other lives as long as he was in power.   
She had told herself that if she was going to indeed participate in the   
operation, she would have to put aside her personal feelings, her own desire for   
vengeance, her _vendetta_. Bison was evil, and even though she was more than   
entitled to a role in his downfall, it had to be not just for her, but for the people   
that would suffer if she _didn't_ go.   
If she had declined participation, how much longer would it have been   
until Bison sent more people like Vega after her again? And if not her, then after   
the people she cared about. People like Donny Yinyang, Master Gen, Yun and   
Yang.   
No this had to end now, and she would see it happen, even if it was not   
her who struck the final blow. It was her right, but not her reason to live, not any   
longer. It was no longer about her revenge, anymore, no longer about her   
_vendetta_.   
It was about justice, pure and simple   
The car came to a halt in front of the hangar entrance. The driver   
exited and quickly scurried around to open the door for her. With a smile of   
thanks, Chun Li stepped out of the limousine, letting the sun fall on the blue silk   
uniform.   
A few of the agents traveling with her had thought it strange that she   
would wear such unusual garb. So what? For some reason, wearing her mother's   
costume just seemed _right_ to Chun Li, somehow. And if this American had a   
problem with it, well, they would have words, and many of them.   
A short pale man wearing sergeant's stripes came running quickly out   
of one of the hangars to meet them. He was carrying a clipboard, which for   
some reason seemed appropriate to her, and adjusted his wire-frame spectacles   
as he greeted them.   
"Interpol, right?" he said.   
"Yes." Chun Li responded in her almost flawless English.   
"The Major's just getting in from doing 'laps'. Felt the need to put a   
newly repaired fighter through its paces. He's like that."   
"Well, I look forward to meeting him." Chun Li said in all sincerity, to   
which the sergeant raised an eyebrow, and just as quickly lowered it.   
"Yes, well, Major Guile is in hangar 3-12. This way, please."   
The soldier gestured for Chun Li and her entourage to follow him.   
She hadn't lied. She was indeed looking forward to meeting Major   
William Guile. From his dossier, he had less than a sterling record but was   
nevertheless deemed the best man for the job. As Zheng had said, reliable.   
Even so, she had doubts. She wondered whether he would be plagued   
by the same inner demons from losing his best friend. If so, she would have to   
do her best to reason with him, because for the most part, they were to be a   
team. If they could see eye-to-eye, so much the better. If not, well, her work   
would be cut out for her indeed. Either way, she felt that if anyone could   
understand him, it would be her.   
The group continued down to where a large jet fighter was being   
checked over by technicians. The cockpit was opening and an imposing figure,   
well muscled physique distinct even through the flight suit, got out.   
The sergeant quickly ran forward to notify the Major of her arrival. As   
he was doing so, the Major took off his helmet, and Chun Li saw that the photo   
in his dossier did little justice to him.   
Unusual hairstyle aside, if he was stern, serious, and unsociable-   
looking in the picture, he was even more so in real life. And those expressions   
intensified as he caught sight of the young, slight Chinese girl and fixed those   
hard eyes on her.   
It took most of her nerve just to smile and wave.   
With a look of extreme distaste, he hopped off the plane and started   
down towards her.   
_Well, this is it._she said to herself. _No turning back now._   
It was almost funny how redundant those words seemed at that   
moment.   
Somewhere, far off in the distance, she could hear a rumble.   
Thunder. A new storm had begun.   
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
VENDETTA:The End   
  
A Chun Li Story   
  
Presented by Studio Fan   
  
Written by Dare   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   
  
END NOTES:   
  
Wow.   
That's all I have to say regarding the completion of this fic. All told, it   
took me little less than two months to write, so far a record as far as my net-   
published works go. Also, I believe this is the longest fanfic I have ever written.   
Well, folks, I hope you enjoyed reading this, because I certainly enjoyed   
writing it. Funny thing though; I never thought I would ever write a Chun Li fic,   
my previous reasoning being she was too popular, and I focus mainly on   
obscure characters.   
Then I thought: Yeah, there are a lot of Chun Li fics out there, but few   
actually focus on her life _before_ Street Fighter 2 takes place. Most of them   
are during or after the game's storyline.   
Well, as you can see, I found great creative license with Chun Li and   
hope to have produced what will be seen as the _definitive_ Chun Li story. The   
fact this fic exists at all is due largely to a good friend of mine, Tina Tzotzis, as   
big a Chun Li fan as they come, and whose homepage has fallen to tragedy in the   
past few months. This story originally started as a favor for her and then swelled   
to incredible proportions. My thanks to you, Tina!   
Also thanks to the people who preread this story and gave me   
feedback. You know who you are, so thanks.   
  
And now, everyone's favorite part of the end notes: Author's   
ramblings!   
  
1. If some of the dialogue in the prologue seems ill-written, it's because   
they are, for the most part, direct transcriptions from the game. I tried to take the   
screen dialogue from Chun Li's ending in Street Fighter Alpha 2 and reworked   
it as best I could to make it sound better.   
  
2. In Chun Li's flashback in Chapter 2, the stunt she pulls with the fire   
escape is taken from "Rumble in the Bronx." Guess who the "Jackie" she was   
referring to is....?   
  
3. In Chapter Three, Yun and Yang's argument is sort of a parody of   
people I meet in the anime world. If you can guess which two anime series the   
boys are referring to, keep in mind that I have nothing against either show (in   
fact, one of was my favorite for a while). Like I said, it's a parody of anime-   
based discussions.   
  
4. The main question many of you may be asking is why did I choose   
Vega as the villain for this fic? Especially since he's supposedly Chun Li's   
nemesis in every other SF story.   
Well, folks, sometimes you gotta go with what works, and it's as   
simple as that. Besides, I couldn't think of anyone else who would fit in the role   
as perfectly as Vega did.   
  
5. As far as continuity goes, this fic is directly connected to the   
Animated Movie, where much of this story's premise is attributed to. After   
observing Guile's single-minded drive for Bison's blood, I wondered "What if   
Chun Li felt the same way, but got over it somehow?" I mean, come on, her   
_father_ was killed, that's gotta mess you up emotionally.   
  
6. The resources used for this fic:   
  
The Street Fighter Alpha 2 Strategy Guide, published by Versus Books.   
The Street Fighter II Animated Movie.   
A glut of SF fanfics on the net, most notably that of Ken Meredith and   
Gryphon.   
A vast plethora of personal knowledge of the martial arts.   
  
Well, that's about it this time around, kiddies. For the future, I   
considering a change of pace and doing a few RPG-based short fics. I have   
Final Fantasy VII in mind, with a few ideas already on the drawing board.....   
  
Comments, legitimate criticism, and praise are accepted, but senseless   
flaming will not be given a moment's attention. Send any of the above to:   
  
dare2live@hotmail.com   
  
Thanks a lot, and see you later,   
  
Dare   
  
Check out more fanfics on my website, Studio Fan!   
  
www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3251   
  



End file.
